The Life & Times of a Book Addict: Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough

Publication: January 31, 2017

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Source: Bought/Own

Why is everyone talking about the ending of Sarah Pinborough's Behind Her Eyes?

Louise is a single mom, a secretary, stuck in a modern-day rut. On a rare night out, she meets a man in a bar and sparks fly. Though he leaves after they kiss, she’s thrilled she finally connected with someone.

When Louise arrives at work on Monday, she meets her new boss, David. The man from the bar. The very married man from the bar…who says the kiss was a terrible mistake but who still can’t keep his eyes off Louise.

And then Louise bumps into Adele, who’s new to town and in need of a friend, but she also just happens to be married to David. David and Adele look like the picture-perfect husband and wife, but then why is David so controlling, and why is Adele so scared of him?

As Louise is drawn into David and Adele’s orbit, she uncovers more puzzling questions than answers. The only thing that is crystal clear is that something in this marriage is very, very wrong, but Louise can’t guess how wrong―and how far a person might go to protect their marriage’s secrets.

David is one interesting character. He is a physiatrist specializing in addictions and yet he has a drinking and apparently a communication problem. He and his wife Adele never talk about their issues. And he seems to barely tolerate being with her. So why does he stay?

Adele is the beautiful supporting wife. She is very devoted to David. Life has not been very easy for either one of them, but especially Adele, since she lost both of her parents in a tragic fire when she was younger. She may be a little emotionally unstable, which appears to be the reason she is on medication. Is it because of her parents death or is something more going on with her?

Louise is a single mom who adores her son. She also likes her job as a part-time secretary. At least she does up until she discovers that her new boss is David, the man she made out with in bar one night. Both David and Louise agree to put the accident behind then pretend like nothing happened. That might work..

Except Louise and Adele strike up an unlikely friendship one day. And Louise finds that she likes spending time with Adele. She sees Adele as fragile and possibly scared of David. And the more time Louis spends with David the more time she realizes her attraction to him has not faded. But I couldn’t really understand why she was attracted to David. I thought maybe she was a little desperate to have a guy in her life. She was needy and a bit stupid IMO. There was no way any of this could end well. And that’s why I kept reading. I wanted to see it all unfold.

Behind Her Eyes promised to be an edge of your seat psychological thriller. And that’s exactly what I was hoping for.

I wasn’t on the edge of my seat with anticipation, but what I actually got was a good suspenseful novel. Though at times it felt like the story went on a little longer than it needed to. But having said that, I did found myself wanting to know what would happen next and how all of the puzzle pieces would fit together. Nothing is as it seems with this story. The characters were alright. I did not like any of them. But I don’t think the reader is really supposed to. The story is told from both Adele and Louise’s POV, which I enjoyed. I got to see what their thought process was. Though it did not help me figure out what was going to happen. And believe me, I tried.

That ending though...The ending was creative. And also a little crazy if not somewhat ridiculous. I kept thinking...really? Did that just happen? It took me even several days to figure out how I felt about not just the ending, but the whole book. Behind Her Eyes will keep you guessing and have you talking about it with anyone and everyone who has read it.

RATING: 3½ out of 5

BUY THE BOOK: